Ok my mechanic pulled the motor and I just went down to see it. 5 large holes in the pan, exhaust burns around the primaries, says headers weren't on right. 1 Spark plug was loose threads were stripped. Head bolts were torqued down way too tight. He said the engine blew up like a bomb and ceased. (work was done by another mechanic). I was hoping to salvage some parts but im SOL if the heads are not repairable.

My engine was sitting outside in the pouring rain on a truck, with waterpump on and brand new opti still on. I told him hey ya know that opti's not supposed to get wet, he replied its only been out here 15 min, thats the least of your worries. Oh well he's buying me a new one i guess....

Im trying to figure out wtf caused this and convince my friend that his mechanic definatly f'd-up. I drove it 10 miles under 3000 rpm, car just shut off. I guess ill know more when the engines apart

 

Tough luck man, is the mechanic blaming the motor detonating on an incorrect header installation? Hope it all works itself out.

 

Headers not on right? There is pretty much only one way, and if they were leaking that bad you would have heard and stopped the engine. Sounds like your getting the shaft from 2 different mechanics......

 

sounds like a an assembly problem with the bottom end.


And yes get your stuff away from the guy who told you that having the headers on wrong caused the engine to blow.


eric

 

No he didn't say exactly what he thinks happened, just that improper installation on headers and heads by the last guy. I guess hes implying that it caused it idk. I need to know all this speculation is driving me crazy. And I dont get why he's leaving my engine in the pouring rain, I feel like im getting f-ed all over again. If theres a chance the opti is still good, why is he letting it get soaked. And I really dont get why the last guy said he found a small 1 inch crack in the pan, and then i go there today and see huge holes.

 

no he didnt say that was the reason, he didnt give me any reason yet it just looks like the one that did the work did it wrong.

 

well the heads are cracked, either a valve dropped or piston came up and hit it and it exploded. he says NOTHING in the motor is good. wtf do i do

 

I would love to tear that thing down just to figure out what caused the carnage. Definatley sounds like TQ specs were missed to me.

Bret

 

Where do you guys read that the latest mechanic said the header install caused it to blow up? He was just pointing out that there were exhaust burns because they were not properly installed.

Sounds like the engine is SOL.

 

I know this is the last thing you want to hear but you need to learn to work on your car yourself. Especially if you add mods to it, because the more you mod it the more they have problems, and these cars aren't really trouble free when they are stock and unmodified. You either need deep pockets or know how to work on it yourself. Sorry about the luck.

 

duh

 

Well at least now I have Golen building practically the whole engine with a warranty. So all the mechanic has to do is drop it in.

So your saying that missed torque specs would cause this? I even gave the guy a chiltons book and some print outs I guess he really didnt give a sh*t and just slapped the parts on.

I would love to be able to prove it was his fault but im worried that ill never know for sure.

When I decided to do the swap I realized there were some risks like a spun bearing but not THIS. This is a disasster and now im rethinking if its even worth rebuilding, I dont understand how the WHOLE engine is bad? stuff i was planning on using like timing chain and waterpump now I gotta buy again? I cant even comprehend what all those misselaneous parts will cost me especially bought through someone else. And haha I allready put the downpayment on the shortblock. Laughing because im now officially insane.

 

I am sure you can reuse the water pump and probly the timing chail (but not sure about that). Their should be a few things you can reuse if you got them hot tanked. Check with a local engine builder to find out what you can reuse.